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Railway Oar. No. 239,446. Patented March 29,1881.

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Railway Oar. I No. 239,446. Patented March 29,1881.

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NFEIEKS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. D 0

(No Model.) Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. T. CLARKE.

Railway Car.

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No. 239,446. PatentedMarch29, I88};

i 1 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

THUMAS CLARKE, on TRURO, NOVA SGOTIA, cANADA.

RAILWAY-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 239,446, dated March 29, 1881.

Application filed February 12, 1881. (No model.)

Truro, in the Provinceof Nova Scotiaand Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new tion.

and useful Improvements in Box and Cattle Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make andiuse.

the same, reference being had to the accompa nyin gdrawin gs, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to freight-cars; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts of a car-which may be converted at will into a closed box-car or into a cattlecar, substantially as hereinafter more fully set forth. 4 1 i In the annexed four sheets of drawings, Figure 1, Sheet 1, represents a side elevation, partly in longitudinal vertical central section, of a' freight-carembodying myimprovements. Fig. 2, Sheet 2-, is a plan view of the upper compartment of the car. Fig. 3' on thesame sheet is a plan of thelower or stall compartment of the car. Fig. 4, Sheet 3, is avertical transverse sec- Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the water buckets or troughs detached, showing the bucket in a partly-tilted position for emptying its contents. Fig. 6 is a similar view of one of the stalls, and Fig. 7 is a detail view of the device for connecting and tightening the meeting ends of the chains which divide the stalls. A i i Similar letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

In stock or cattle cars as heretofore 0on structed it has been usual to construct the sides and ends of the cars of slats or longitudh nal bars secured upon stanchions supporting the roof of the car; but by this construction the car is made useless for any other purpose, and cannot be used for grain or other merchandise which requires a closed car or boxcar for its transportation.

The object of myinvention is to construct a box-car suitable for any kind of merchandise,

' with closed ends and sides, as shown atAand A, the sides being provided with sliding doors, each of which is made in two parts or sectionsto wit, a lower solid part, B, and an upper part, B, whichis made with windows or apertur'es O. The upper part, B, slides in ways in the top of the lower part, B, so that they may i be operatedlthat is, opened or closed) independent of one another.

The car is divided by a horizontalfloor or partition, D, into an upper and lower compartment, the uppercompartment containing the water-tanks Eand affording storage-room for hay or other feed, while thelower compartment may be divided into stalls by a system of chains 'or ropes, the arrangement of which will be fully understood by reference to Figs. 3, 4, and 6 of the drawings, which I shall now proceed to describe. r

i In opposite walls or sides of the car are secured bolt-eyesa and hooksa, which are placed attachment for chains or ropes, each of which ism'ade in two parts, (denoted by F and F,) their meeting ends being connected by the coupling, which is shown more clearly in Fig. 7 of the drawings. If ropes are used,'-I make the long end F with a series of chain-links at one end for hooking it upon the hooks or hooked bolts (0, by means of which the slack may be taken up and the cords or chains stretched tautfrorn one side of the car to the other.

To still furthertightn the ropes or chains F-F, which subdivide he lower compartment intostalls, I employ acoupling consisting of a long link, b, which is attached to the end of either of the ropes or chains (as the case may be) F or F, and has abentlevenc, at its outer end, the long arm of which is inserted through a ring or link, (I, at the end of the rope or chain section opposite. Byturning this arm or lever 0 against the link I) it will tighten the chains, the leverage being suflicient to overcome any slack, and the end of the lever is prevented from unlocking so as. to disconnect the chains F F by means of a ring or link, 6, which slides upon the long link I), and is slipped'over the outer end of the long lever-armc, which has a button or enlargement at its outer end, to prevent the ring 6 from slipping ofi accidentally.

Tostill further increase the rigidity of the stall ropes or chains F F, I employ stringers diagonally to one another, and afford means of G, made of cords or chains, the upper ends of which are attached to alternate sides of the.

platform, which constitutes the central part of the floor of the upper compartment or roof of the lower orstall compartment. In other words, the animal being placed in its appropriate stall, with its head toward the narrowest part of the stall, or between the converging ends of the dividing ropes or chains, the stringer G on his left will be near the neck, while the stringer G on the opposite side is near the rump part of his body. The stringers Gr G are inserted through the links or eyes at the outer ends of the short sections I", and attached at their lower ends by snap-hooks f, or other suitable fastening devices, to eyebolts secured in the fioor of thecar.

When the car is to be used'as a box-car, the chains or cords F F are unhooked from the sides of the car and the stringers G from its bottom, and suspended from hooks gin the roof of the lower compartment, where they are out of the way, and yet at the same time are easily accessible when it is desired to convert the car into a cattle-car.

Both the sides and ends of the car-body are provided with hinged doors H,'which impinge upon the floor, and maybe bolted from the inside when closed. When open, these doors are secured in place by a suitably-constructed catch or hook on the outside of the car, was to allow for the free circulation of air, which is one of the main requisites of a successful cattle-car. These doors also serve for cleansing the interior of the car, and for loading it with timber, rails, or other freight when it is to be used for the transportation of freight.

Between each of the sliding doors on the sides of the car, close up-under the roof of the lower compartment, I place a pair of hinged shutters, I, cut off obliquely at their lower ends, and provided on one side with eyes or staples i, and on the opposite side with long hooked arms 70, of a length corresponding to the distance between each pair of shutters, so that, by placing the shutters parallel to one another and at right a gles to the sides of the car, each pair of shutters .is connected by the hooked arms 70, as shown in Fig. 6, by which means I form a feed-rack for containing hay, straw, or other fodder, which maybe placed into the rack through an aperture or opening made in the floor of the upper compartment, on opposite sides of its central platform. When the car is to be used as a closed box-car, the arms are unhooked and the shutters are turned back in opposite directions against the sides of the car, so as to close the barred windows 0 O, the shutters being bolted or otherwise suitably locked when in their closed position.

On each side of the second story or com partment, above the horizontal partition D, I arrange the water-tanks E E, which are inclined vertically in opposite directions, and connected at opposite ends by pipes L, provided with faucets I. These tanks maybe filled from one or both ends of the car through inlets m, which may be closed by the sliding doors M, through which access is had from either end of the car to the upper story. Each of the tanks E has a series of downward-projeotin g pipes, n, extending down along thesides of the car, and provided with s'uitably-arran ged stop-cocks, through which the buckets N may be filled with water when desired. In order to prevent tampering with the stop-cocks or faucets when the car is not in use as a stockcar, and also to guard, in a measure, against freezing, I employ a sliding shield, K, made in two or more sections, which, when pushed to one side, will cover and protect the faucets, while, when pushed in the opposite direction, the faucets are uncovered, so that access may be had to them by the attendant when it is desired to turn on the water. The sliding shield or guard K may be secnredin its closed position by a padlock or any other suitable contrivance.

At each end of the central platform of the upper compartment is a hinged trap-door, 0, by raising which access may be had to the faucets lwhen it is desired to empty the tanks. This trap-door also serves as a means of access from the upper to the lower compartment of the car, and whenever it is desirable for the attendant in charge to enter any one of the stalls to release or otherwise attend to an animal, he may do so through the feed-apertures o in the floor of the upper story, using the eyebolts p, from which the water-trough is suspended, as steps to get down or up.

The water-buckets N, of which there is one for each stall, are hinged at their upper end to a plate, I, to which are attached two parallel rods, Q, having hooks g at their upper ends. By inserting the projecting lower ends of rods Q into the lowermost set of eyebolts p and hooking the hooks q into the set or series of eyebolts next above, the buckets will be held firmly, but removably, in their proper position, and by hingin g the buckets to plates 1? in the manner described they may be upset or tilted without removing them from their fastenings whenever it is desired to empty them for cleansing or other purposes.

When the car is used as a closed box-car, the buckets are shifted up to the uppermost set or series of eyebolts 19, close under the roof, so as to close the apertures 0, and at the same time be out of the way, the rack sides or shutters I beingfolded back out of the way, in the manner already described.

The sides of the upper compartment are provided with hinged doors R, for loading hay or other feed, which is pushed down into the feedracks below as occasion requires. The attendant occupies the middle part, between the water-tanks, from which he can manipulate the water-supply, feed-supply, and has access to both ends of the car and to each individual stall, in the manner described.

The car is made with a flat top or roof, so that the brakemen may easily pass from one are too obvious to require further elucidation.

Being convertible into either a closed box-car or a cattle-car, it answers the purposes of two separate cars. Thus it may carry cattle on one trip, or in one direction, and carry inerchandise on the return trip, instead of going back-empty. The vertical stringers Gr brace and support the stall ropes or chainsF F, preventing the lowermost rope from slipping up over the back of the animal when it lies down in its stall, and by making the central platform of theupper story of slats, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, as well as by the feedapertures 0, the upper compartment serves the purpose of ventilating the lower part of the car, the end doors of the upper story being provided with openings or air-holes to maintain a current of air through the compartment.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a cattle-ear, the combination of the horizontal cords or chains F F, for dividing the car into separate stalls, vertical stringers G, connected to and bracing said horizontal cords or chains, and the combined coupling and tightening device composed of the parts b, c, d, and e, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and specified.

2. The combination, with the parallel watertanks E E, inclined vertically in opposite directions, and having the connecting-pipes L, inlets m, and discharge-pipes n, of the sliding guards K K,- set on edge and adapted to cover and protect the inletsto the tanks, as well as the tanks themselves for their entire length, substantially as set forth.-

3. In a railway-car, the upper floor or horizontal partition, D, provided with trap-doors at opposite ends, sliding doors M, and the feed-apertures 0, arranged on opposite side of the central slatted platform, substantially as set forth. 7 I

4. The detachable water and feed buckets N, hinged to plates P, provided with parallel hooked rods Q Q, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

5. In a railway-car, the hinged shutters I, provided with the eyes t and hooked rods or arms 7r, for converting them into feed-racks,

substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and set forth. In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS CLARKE.

Witnesses:

AUGUST PETERSON, L. C. YOUNG. 

